LANSING, MI - Secretary of State Ruth Johnson will not file an emergency appeal of a ruling that blocks her from requiring a citizenship question on ballot applications.

That means for the Nov. 6 election, at least, opponents of the citizenship check box have prevailed.

"The secretary has indicated that she will not pursue an emergency appeal because we are so close to the election," Johnson spokesman Fred Woodhams said in an email late Tuesday.

Once U.S. District Judge Paul Borman in Detroit issues his formal written decision - he ruled from the bench late Friday - state attorneys will review it before deciding whether to go through the normal appeals process.

In issuing a preliminary injunction Friday, Borman said voters' constitutional equal-protection rights would have been violated because some local election clerks were refusing to place the citizenship question on ballot applications while others planned to comply.

The lawsuit was filed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Service Employees International Union, Democratic Ingham County Clerk Mike Bryanton, Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development, and registered voters from East Lansing, Shelby Township and Buena Vista Township.

Michigan residents already are asked if they are a U.S. citizen when they register to vote.

Johnson, a Republican, says adding the question to ballot applications at polling places is an extra protection to keep non-citizens from voting.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder this summer vetoed a bill that included a requirement for voters to check a citizenship box - citing potential voter confusion - but Johnson says she still has the authority to include the box under her power to prescribe ballot forms. It was used in the February and August elections.

The suit challenged her authority, though, as have officials in Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb and Ingham counties.

Johnson issued a statement after the ruling Friday:

"We're disappointed because the federal government has refused to help us clean up the Qualified Voter File and now a federal judge has ordered us to not ask people if they're U.S. citizens at the polls.
But our fight for election integrity and for accurate voter rolls will continue. We must continue to remove unqualified voters -- those who have died, people who have moved out of state and, yes, noncitizens.
As to noncitizens, our staff has verified cases of noncitizens on our voter rolls. We estimate there are as many as 4,000 individuals on the rolls today.
We will continue to push the federal government -- the only ones with the information -- to help us identify remaining noncitizens so they can be removed. This was a problem they helped create and they need to help Michigan and other states clean it up. That is just common sense."

ACLU attorney Dan Korobkin, though, said the ruling was a "clear victory" for Michigan voters and the "cause of voting rights across the country."

"There is no question that, without the court’s intervention, the chaos that persisted during the August primary election will be replayed on a greater scale during the November general election. We are encouraged by the decision and hope to work with the Secretary of State on initiatives that will truly ensure that voting is convenient and open to every eligible voter in our state.”